


The Purpose of Love

by alfing



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst?, Feelings, Law in denial, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-10 20:10:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10446420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alfing/pseuds/alfing
Summary: Law's being stupid and Luffy isn't gonna put up with it.(excuse the shitty summary)





	

After Flevance, Law was unable to believe in love. Everyone he had cared about was destroyed in that town. His mother, his father, his sister, his classmates. He became cold and cruel, his only thoughts were of destroying this wretched world that took everything from him. He had heard about a notorious group of pirates hanging around the North Blue in the newspapers. They called themselves the Don Quixote Family.

Law believed that joining forces with them would help him achieve his dream of destroying everyone and everything. And so he confronted them. Doflamingo, the captain of the crew, seemed intrigued by the boy’s motives and past. Law couldn’t help that small feeling of relief that he might be accepted. But then  _ he  _ appeared.

In the blink of an eye, the boy was thrown through the window and was sent flying into a heap of scraps. From within the building, he could hear hysteric laughter coming from the other two children that were there. Law was angry. What was that guy’s problem? Who would throw a child through the window? With much irritation, he crawled from the pile of junk, bruised and bleeding. He would get that bastard back if it was the last thing he did.

Law continued to have hatred in his heart as the months passed by. He may not be very strong, but he had his emotions to guide him, clinging to the anger that resided within him. He almost forgot that he was dying. At least, until that day Corazon found out he had “the Will of D”. That was when Law’s journey really began.

The two of them had been travelling together for over six months, going from hospital to hospital to no prevail. But it was during that time that Law’s heart felt warm, happy that someone actually cared about him in this sick world. It was possible that he felt love. Although he didn’t look it, he truly was glad. He was glad that Corazon wanted him to live, that he constantly looked for a cure for him. He was glad that Cora- _ san _ tries his best to cheer him up when he was feeling down. He was glad that when no one was looking, it was Cora- _ san _ who could manage a smile onto his sickly pale face.

And even now, as they stood together surrounded by fallen autumn leaves, the smell of roasted sweet potatoes still filling the air and the sight of Cora- _ san _ ’s coat catching fire startling the both of them, Law was happy. It was possible that he had even found a purpose to live again. But his illness only grew worse. Patches of white decorated his body so that you could barely see his natural skin color and his sunken eyes couldn’t stay open for more than a minute.

Their final hope was the  _ Ope _ - _ Ope  _ fruit.

Cora- _ san _ told him to wait for him while he went to get the fruit. Law had agreed, only because he was too tired to understand what was happening. He used this as a chance to rest despite the fact that he was surrounded by snow and he could barely feel his fingers. He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw flames. He grew worried. How long had he been asleep? Where was Cora- _ san _ ? Why was there a fire?

Gunshots rang in the distance, causing him to jump in surprise.

A feeling of dread came over him and his chest tightened. Those weren’t... those weren’t directed at Cora- _ san _ , were they? Over the hill, a black figure approached. Relief flooded through Law and he fought back a smile. Maybe everything would be alright after all.

 

In the galley of the Thousand Sunny, Law went over his plan to defeat Doflamingo. He made sure to go into extreme detail, just so that the Straw Hats could completely understand what he needs them to do. They were an unpredictable bunch after all, anything could happen if you weren’t being thorough with them. “Do you understand?” he inquired after he finished explaining. “If anything goes wrong, that’ll be it for all of us.” Law sighed in relief when he received a series of nods and grunts of confirmation.

“Hm....” hummed Luffy, much to the surgeon’s annoyance. “I forget, what do we do after splitting up?” Law rubbed his temple with his fingers. “We’ve been over this three times already,  _ Mugiwara _ -ya. When is it going to get through your head?” he groaned, too tired to deal with the Straw Hats’ captain.

“Don’t worry,  _ Torao _ . Luffy may be an idiot, but eventually, he’ll get it,” Nami assured.

Sanji delivered a platter of rolls to the table and deliberately placed it in front of Law. “Snack time,” he announced, taking a drag from his cigarette. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper immediately stuffed their faces with several rolls at a time, chewing obnoxiously beside the surgeon. Pieces of bread and spit flew everywhere, some of which hit Law in the face. After wiping his cheek with his sleeve, he picked up his  _ Kikoku  _ and made to leave, not daring to make a comment about how disgusting they were.

Law sat on the Sunny’s yard, keeping an eye on Caesar who was napping on the other side of the deck. The grass was soft beneath his fingers and the smooth wood caressed his back as he leaned against it. The salty spray of the sea put him at ease and he closed his eyes and remembered.

_ It was dark and he was in a box. He could hear voices outside, Doflamingo and Cora- _ san _. He heard the click of a gun being prepared to fire. Desperately, he began to shout and hit against the walls of the box. But the power of the  _ Calm _ - _ Calm  _ fruit was too strong, the sounds he made became silent. He continued to scream himself hoarse until he heard several gunshots and felt something slam into the side of his box. A tear slid down his cheek. _

A body slamming into his pulled him from his thoughts and he quickly shot his arm out to stable himself. Immediately, he recognized that the body belonged to Luffy. “What do you want?” he grumbled, hiding his face with the bill of his hat.

“ _ Shishishi _ ! Everyone’s too busy to play so I came to hang out with  _ Torao _ !” the rubber-man replied, shifting so that he was sitting in front of the surgeon. Law scowled. “You don’t think that I may be busy as well?”

“Well, you looked like you were just taking a nap. But if you call that being busy then that’s fine! Doesn’t mean I’m gonna leave you alone, though! Zoro always says he’s busy when he’s taking a nap ‘cause he thinks I’m stupid or something,” Luffy rambled, picking at his ear. “But I’m not stupid! It just takes me some time to figure things out...”

“Well, I wasn’t taking a nap. I was just thinking about things,” Law corrected. “And if you want to bother someone, go somewhere else, I’m not in the mood to put up with your shenanigans.”

Luffy giggled. “You said  _ shenanigans _ ,” he laughed. “Are you an old man?”

Law blushed in embarrassment. “‘Shenanigans’ is a perfectly respectable adult word to use,” he protested weakly. Luffy’s laughter faded as he admired the color in the surgeon’s cheeks. At the sudden attention, Law hid his face beneath his hat again, only to have it be tilted up to expose his flustered expression. “Y’know,  _ Torao _ , your face is really red,” commented the rubber-man.

Law quickly pushed him away, moving his  _ Kikoku  _ so that it created a barrier between them. “Don’t look at me so closely,” he mumbled, the grip on his  _ nodachi  _ tightening. “Do you have no sense of personal space?”

Luffy tilted his head in confusion. “But I like being close to  _ Torao _ . It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!” he said bluntly, looking at his ally with a determined face.

“Yeah, well, maybe you should get that checked. I’m sure Tony-ya would love to examine you,” Law commented. Luffy made a face as though he were thinking and leaned towards the surgeon again. “Hm... you’re kinda stupid,  _ Torao _ ,” he remarked. Law gave him an outraged expression, but before he could say anything, Luffy continued. “Being close to you makes me feel that way because I  _ love  _ you!”

The surgeon huffed out a bitter chuckle. “I don’t believe in love,” he stated, turning away from the rubber-man once more. Luffy frowned, not pleased with Law’s response. In retaliation, he grabbed the older pirate’s face and forced him to look at him. “You really are stupid,  _ Torao _ . You think that just because  _ you  _ don’t believe in love means that I’m not in love with you? Well that’s dumb because I really do love you. I love you like how I love my  _ nakama _ , maybe even more than that. I really love you,  _ Torao _ , and if you can’t believe in that then I gotta beat it into you with my fists of love,” he argued. “Now stop being so emotionally constipated and open your heart to me!”

Luffy flung his arms into the air at about the same time a wave hit the side of the ship, causing a dramatic background to form behind him. Law stared at him in shock. He knew, deep within him, that he was being ridiculous, that he really should just open up. But he felt that his heart wasn’t ready for that yet. He looked at the rubber-man’s stern expression and open arms. “ _ Mugiwara _ -ya,” he began. “What you want me to do is not easy for me. It will take a lot of time for me to get used to-”

“Then I’ll wait,” Luffy conceded, swooping his rubbery limbs down to embrace the surgeon tightly. “I know how to be patient. I waited two years to see my crew again, I can wait just as long for you to adjust your emotions.” Law froze in his grip, unsure of what to do before he returned the hug.

There was hope in him again. And he hadn’t had hope in the longest time.


End file.
